I gave my first ToastMasters Speech yesterday. Here is the text of the speech - clocked at a few seconds under five minutes. Mr. Toastmaster, Fellow Toasties/Toasters: I spent my first 5 yrs out of high school, going to college, with the end result being NOT a college degree, but rather flunking or withdrawing from half of the classes I had taken. That’s right, for every two classes I … [Read more...]
Archives for 2013
Recent events of pseudo-stepson Ryan
April 16, 2013 By
You may remember: The companion's oldest (26 in Aug) son finally moved out of the house about a yr and a half ago, moving out-of-state, to Colorado, with a friend, "to work" (since he wasn't able to find/get a job here for more than 2-1/2 years while living with us). At the time, we thought it would be good for him, to finally be on his own, but it's not worked out as everyone had … [Read more...]
RE: Boston Bombings on April 16, 2013
April 16, 2013 By
I am agnostic, I was brought up Baptist from age 4-5 to age 18-20. I still do not know whether God exists or not. HOWEVER, ever since 9/11 (and maybe before that event), I have strongly believed for many, many years, there is true EVIL in this world AND that there is a Satan. If there is God, I hope the people responsible for these bombings today in Boston will learn that Good will always triumph … [Read more...]
Tall Tales
April 11, 2013 By
Ok, here are some “tall tales” from the life of BSW – one didn’t really happen to me, but the other three did. Story #1: It’s my birthday when I was a youngster, and someone close to me gets me two shirts, one blue, one red. The next day, I put on the blue shirt to wear and “come downstairs”, and the persons says (wait for it): “What’s wrong, didn’t you like the other one?” Story #2: … [Read more...]
Toast Masters First Speech (first rough draft)
March 28, 2013 By
So, I joined ToastMasters here at USPS a few weeks ago and I have to give a four to six minute "Ice Breaker" speech to my fellow Toast Masters in a few weeks time, telling them who I am, etc. Here is what I plan on saying, I'm sure I'll be editing it a bit. [believe it not, it looks long winded, but its ~5 mins long]. My first five years of college (yes, that’s right, 5), right out of high … [Read more...]
Daily blogging – life experiences – just start doing it!
March 22, 2013 By
Sometimes, I share the most boring stuff, which book I just finished reading, which movie we just saw, which TV series/season I just finished. Other times, I wear my heart on my sleeve, writing about feelings, friends, work, etc., and it seems i tend to knock it out of the park on those occasions (go figure). I really need to try to get into writing a major thought down once a day, and post … [Read more...]
Friendship
March 22, 2013 By
Friendship. It comes in so many different ways. You may have worked with them, or known of them while working at the same office, but may not have had a whole lot of interaction with them at the time. Then, something happens, one or both of you lose your jobs (at different times), and somehow, reconnect, giving each other support and encouragement during that difficult period of joblessness. … [Read more...]
Software Engineering class
March 16, 2013 By
FSM (finite state machine), DFD (data flow diagram), PND (petri-net diagram), lions, tigers, bears, oh my. My head is swimming. Actually, I am getting most of this, and have been using some of these methods during my career (partially or otherwise), but, NOT consistently. Need to work on that! My class team of four met after class - 3 of us understand the term project, and are making good … [Read more...]
Phase One of Scenic Ridge Development Effort
March 12, 2013 By
In the Fall of 2006, I purchased a "Woodland Scenics" model railroad kit called "Scenic Ridge". This kit is N-Scale (they also have 2 HO-Scale kits). The kit has many, many components in it, but basically can be put into two categories: Various foam pieces and landscaping materials such as grasses, rocks, and bushes. The layout, when completed, will be 3 feet by 6 feet in size. After … [Read more...]
Computer Programmer vs. Software Engineer
March 4, 2013 By
Last week, I posted a short entry on my blog about “computer programmers”, “software developers”, and “software engineers”. One of my friends (and, myself, many years ago), thought “aren’t they the same thing?” [If you don’t like to read long winded articles, please skip this one]. Here is a quick generalization, with which you should take with a grain of salt, since the lines do blur, and … [Read more...]
Life at USPS
March 1, 2013 By
A colleague created an enhancement, and it was put in UAT (User Acceptance Testing) Environment yesterday, and he then left for vacation for a week - oh, and it's scheduled to go into production this Sunday. He asked me to "test" it since the end users didn't really know "how" to test it according to him. Anyway, I tested it this morning, and the enhancement causes an email notification to be … [Read more...]
2nd class at Saint Thomas: Software Engineering
March 1, 2013 By
First session of SEIS 610 Software Engineering was 2 weeks ago. I was immedaitely impressed by our instructor (C. Lai). He put up easy to read slides, and spoke toward them, not reading them word for word. He spoke for the entire 6-1/2 hour class, giving us instruction on the term's group project, and the first 2 assignments, as well as enlightening the class about a "new" (read: different) … [Read more...]
Thoughts: My Mom’s Visitation
January 21, 2013 By
Well, I am so amazed by the kindness of my friends at Unisys who dropped by tonight at my mom's visitation. Thank you, Deb Russell for coming by (totally unexpected - it was so very good to see you again - a few minutes after you left, the rest of the Unisys gang dropped by, I'm sorry you missed them). A big thank you (so much) to Tina Gondoly Goocher, for bringing my very good friend, former … [Read more...]
My mother has passed away
January 17, 2013 By
My mother, Evelyn J. Williams (née Mullins), born in 1924, passed away an hour or so ago, January 17, 2013. She grew up during the great depression, graduated from high school in the early 1940's, immediately went to work, contributing toward the war effort (WW II). Continuing to work after the war ended, she met a man by the name of Darwin Williams - they met at a "tip toppers" club for tall … [Read more...]
Mom: Evelyn J. Williams
January 16, 2013 By
I got word a week before Christmas that my mom was taken to Saint John's Hospital (Detroit). I went out there first weekend in January to see her. She looked so exhausted and frail. She knew I was there, but she was too tired to hold a conversation with me. They moved her back to her nursing home a couple of days later, under Hospice care. My cousin, Lisa called me a day or so later, saying … [Read more...]
